Sept. 28, 2012 10:51 p.m. | Both Menomonee Falls and Marquette arrived in the Falls on Friday night with work to do to secure a playoff spot this season. By the end of the night, the Indians were celebrating a hard fought 21-7 win over a Greater Metro rival while Marquette left needing to win both remaining games to make the postseason.

The battle was for grabs all night until senior Cole Hernikl took an handoff up the middle, broke a Hilltoppers tackle and sprinted 33 yards for an Indians touchdown, giving Menomonee Falls a two score lead with 5:39 left in game. The play was the culmination of a methodical seven play, clock-killing drive that started on the Falls own 22 yard line.

“The offensive line did a great job opening up a huge hole for Cole to run through,” Falls junior quarterback Adam Vechart said. “They did a good job getting a push on that play and protected me well all night.

“We just knew that as long as we kept on fighting and playing hard, things would eventually get going.”

Marquette didn’t get a first down until four minutes remained in the first quarter but once the Hilltoppers did, they didn’t stop with just one. Senior running back Jordan McClain took the lid off the first-down bottle with a bruising 11-yard run on first down. That carry was the first of five consecutive for McClain, and he accounted for 34 of the 89 yards in the stretch.

The department last week reported similar findings from dead deer in Columbia and Rock counties. The outbreak of the disease is the first recorded in Wisconsin since 2002, when 14 dead deer were linked to EHD in Iowa County.

The disease has been confirmed in 178 dead deer in Wisconsin this year, said Eric Lobner, DNR wildlife supervisor.

That number is expected to increase. The DNR is receiving calls daily with additional reports of dead deer, Lobner said.

The EHD-positive deer samples were confirmed in testing at Michigan State University’s Diagnostic Center for Population & Animal Health. Additional tests of deer from Columbia, Iowa, Jefferson and Marquette counties are pending and expected in the next week or two.

Sept. 26, 2012 1:22 p.m. | Waukesha - Spending on Waukesha County government services and construction projects would drop 3.8% to $273.7 million in 2013, under a budget proposed by County Executive Dan Vrakas.

The bottom line - an overall cut in county government spending of $10.9 million next year - was achieved by spending less on major capital construction projects than this year.

Financial challenges from rising vehicle fuel prices, increased spending on adult jail inmates and reductions in investment income were more than offset by reducing the capital budget by $12 million, according to budget documents.

Cutting county spending will lessen the property tax burden on home and business owners, Vrakas said.

"Last year, we were able to freeze taxes on a median valued home," he said in comments before the County Board.

Sept. 25, 2012 2:04 p.m. | The Menomonee Falls Police Department issued a warning today for residents to be on the alert for a magazine subscription scam that benefits wounded military veterans.

According to the police department's news release:

The Metro Detroit area has been flooded with a bogus company either using the name "U.C" or "United Circulation" or "W. W. C" or "Worldwide Circulation" scamming thousands of residents out of money.

The companies hire late teens, ages 17-22, to go door to door attempting to sell magazine subscriptions that supposedly go to wounded vets from Iraq. The unsuspecting victim is shown a list of wounded vets with names, rank and branch of service and then choose which vet receives whatever magazine that is chosen for the donation. The teens also use the deceptive con that not only do the vets receive the magazines but a portion of the proceeds will help the teen with a sports team, honor student, trips abroad or other school fundraisers. The teens represent themselves as attending the local school in the area that they are fundraising. This is all a scam! The teens do not attend the local school in the area that they are soliciting in and the proceeds do not benefit the school in any way.

The company "United Circulation" is based out of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls, Iowa, area and is a limited liability company. The company does not have a website and they use craiglist and newspaper ads to have field managers recruit the teens to do the soliciting.

Sept. 24, 2012 11:53 p.m. | Work ethic, either a person has it or they don't.

And in the mind of Germantown boys socccer team coach Omar Sethi, how the Warhawks rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the final 15 minutes to beat Nicolet, 3-2, in a critical North Shore Conference game Monday night came from an ethos that these players were born with.

"The resilience of this team is a testament to the character of a community," said Sethi. "It's testament to a work ethic that these kids have had instilled in them their entire lives. That they were raised with."

It would be hard to argue that point after looking at the exhausted, sweat-stained and limping leaders of the Warhawks afterward as their relentless effort helped lift the team to a 5-1 record in the North Shore and drop a game Nicolet unit to 3-2-1.

All Germantown needs now is a win or a tie against Homestead next Tuesday to clinch their second league title in three years.

Every once in a while, a team is fortunate to have one exceptional running back that has the ability to change a game in an instant.

When a team has two, well, it just doesn’t seem fair.

Homestead dominated the line of scrimmage on Friday and continued their quest for perfection with a 41-10 victory over Cedarburg.

The Highlanders were led by senior running backs Shaquille Cole and Jay Schneider, who racked up a combined 364 rushing yards and five touchdowns.

“We think both Shaquille Cole and Jay Schneider are pretty darn special,” Homestead coach Dave Keel said. “Every time they touch the ball they’ve got the ability to go how ever many yards it takes. They showed that tonight. I’m real pleased with what they did, that’s for darn sure. They’re awful good.”

Homestead led 6-3 with 2 minutes and 46 seconds left in the second quarter when Schneider broke the game wide open.

The speedster torched the Cedarburg defense for a 55-yard scramble and gave his team a 13-6 lead.

“We know the running backs really had a bunch of pressure with the new quarterbacks coming in ... Homecoming ... it’s their first varsity start,” Schneider said. “So we were like, ‘We’ve really got to make some magic happen on this field. We’ve got to run hard every play.’”

The returning All-Conference running back had an eye-popping 201 rushing yards on 12 attempts in the game.

Schneider knew whom to credit for his success.

“Offensive line, big time,” Said Schneider, who averaged 16.8 yards per carry. “I heard the play call, read the blocking, perfect blocking every time. I mean everybody was spot on. When everyone does their assignment, plays work. So there the holes were.”

After rushing for 15 yards last week against Grafton, Cole responded with 20 attempts for 163 yards on the ground.

Cole kicked things off for the Highlanders when he broke free from a defender and dashed 47 yards down the left side of the field to put Homestead up, 6-3.

Schneider’s longest run came at 9:43 in the third quarter when on 4th and 1, the senior came upon defensive traffic, cut left and sprinted down the sideline for a 70-yard score to give Homestead a 20-3 lead.
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Sept. 21, 2012 11:32 p.m. | A red and white face-painted Sussex Hamilton backer boldly and swiftly ran out onto the middle of Schumann Stadium in Menomonee Falls on Friday night right after the national anthem and with an impressive amount of chutzpah planted a Chargers spirit flag at midfield much to the great vocal disdain of the Indians football fans in attendance.

Thus, in this long-standing and often intense rivalry, a blow for symbolism was struck.

But the Indians responded with such concrete qualities as execution, character and tenacity, as they scored two touchdowns in the first quarter against the third-ranked iHamilton squad and then hung on for dear life for one of the great upsets of the season so far with a 24-21 decision.

When Chargers quarterback Mike Gryszkiewicz's long sideline pass in the final seconds missed its mark, there was bedlam at the center of Schumann Stadium. If that Hamilton spirit flag had still been there, it would have been trampled into oblivion.

"I never felt like this before, I was so scared (going into those final plays)," said senior linebacker Brian Schmit. "I thought the game would never end. We always knew we were a good football team, but we had to go out and prove it. We had to go out and prove it to everyone."

Sept. 18, 2012 10:44 p.m. | One time, two times, three times the ball went back and forth Tuesday night at the packed and noisy DSHA gym in the fifth and final game of the tense Greater Metro volleyball dual between state-ranked Menomonee Falls and their equally-regardes hosts the Dashers

Then people lost track as DSHA desperately tried to put the finishing touches on an epic five-game win over defending league champion Indians and Falls just as fervently tried to come off the mat after looking dead in the water just five minutes earlier.

The rally never seemed to end, as neither side wanted to let the ball hit the floor.

"It got so long, I wished I had kept track," said Indian coach J.C. Bruns of the rally.

And finally, finally, just when people thought it would go on all evening, the Dashers senior middle blocker Olivia Akin finally found an angle and a hole and smacked the ball to the floor, finishing off a dramatic 23-25, 25-23, 14-25, 25-18, 16-14 decision over their traditional rivals.

The General Government Committee in a 3-to-1 vote approved changes to the ordinance that if approved by the village board would ban all campaign signs from the public right of way. After an hourlong public comment period where residents had differing opinions on whether or not campaign signs should be allowed in public right-of-ways, the board unanimously voted against changing the village code.

The ordinance was clarified in spring to state that campaign signs can be placed on village right-of-ways abutting residential properties only if the property owner has given his or her approval for the sign to be placed there.

Before the April 3 election, candidates thought they could place campaign signs on village right-of-ways as long as they were 4-feet from the curb line. The Germantown Police Department and the village were inundated with calls from residents throughout the month of March asking for illegally placed campaign signs to be removed from the village right-of-ways abutting their property.

Village Attorney Brian Sajdak said prohibiting campaign signs in public space altogether would clear up any confusion regarding the ordinance. He said by allowing signs in the right-of-ways, it also makes a space "quasi-public," meaning the right of way is still public space, but it's not fully public because property owners have to grant permission to place signs there.

Nuck correctly selected the winner in four out of five high school football games and was the closest to predicting the final score of the Marquette vs. Brookfield Central contest.

He wins a pair of tickets to Marcus Theatres. Movie passes will be given away to one winner each week and three winners at the end of the regular season will receive a gift card to Bartolotta restaurants worth $100, $50 or $25.

You can join the more than 700 people who have already signed up for the fun by registering at www.mycommunitynow.com/pigskin. You can register using your Facebook account and the game is fully playable through a smart phone.

NOW sportswriters John Rech and Tom “Sky” Skibosh lead the VIP competition. Reigning Miss St. Francis Colleen Mrotek is a game back.

Sept. 14, 2012 11:30 p.m. | Seeing as this was a Germantown-Cedarburg football game and that many an odd and thrilling finish has occured in the last 15 years of this spirited rivalry, one should not have been surprised at how strangely things turned out Friday on the Bulldogs' home field when the two teams met again.

The youthful but talented visiting Warhawks had broken an 8-8 halftime tie with the help of a quarterback sneak touchdown by Dwayne Lawhorn, Jr., and a 33-yard field goal Carter Schmitz.

Furthermore, they were threatening to build on their seemingly comfortable 18-8 lead with a drive that had reached the Bulldog 36 with just 9:16 left in the game.

But in the space of just six plays and 2:13 on the clock, momentum had shifted dramatically, as Cedarburg seized a 22-18 lead and would withstand a later Warhawk threat to hold onto a critical North Shore Conference victory.

Three Bulldog interceptions in the final four Germantown possessions would help seal the deal.

Visit www.mycommunitynow.com/pigskin to register for the contest and take your best shot at winning the weekly prize of a pair of tickets to Marcus Theatres. Three winners at the end of the regular season will receive a gift card to Bartolotta restaurants worth $100, $50 or $25.

Time-Warner Cable sportscaster JP Cadorin moved into a tie for the top spot among VIP pickers with his performance last week. He is a game ahead of Colleen Mrotek, the reigning Miss St. Francis, who fell back a bit last week after debuting at 5-0.

Need some help handicapping the games? Visit the Push for the Playoffs for a capsule look at area teams, statistics and more.

They held their own throughout the first half, with coach Scott Stein swapping people in and out as fast he could to keep them fresh and to give the Indians a chance at breaking down the Hilltoppers' backline defense.

And they even got that opportunity in the 14th minute, when senior forward Ayoola Olapo got free on a breakaway, brought the Marquette keeper out and then got the ball just far enough beyond the goal line before it was smothered to tie the game.

The 1-1 tie at the break left the ninth-ranked in state Indians jubilant and thinking maybe, just maybe that this is the year that Falls would beat Marquette (something that has never happened).

But it was not to be as just four minutes into the second half, the top-ranked in state Hilltoppers showed why they have dominated Wisconsin prep soccer for almost the entirity of the new century.

Sept. 11, 2012 1:56 p.m. | The driver injured in a crash Monday night in the Town of Saukville that killed his two passengers has died at Froedtert Hospital, the Ozaukee County sheriff's office said Tuesday.

Nicholas Snow, 25, of Germantown had been taken to Froedtert in Wauwatosa by Flight for Life after the crash at about 10:50 p.m. near Hawthorne Hills Golf Course.

Stephen Miller, 23, of Port Washington, and Jayme R. Ceplina, 21, of West Bend, were killed when the vehicle left the road and struck several trees, splitting the car in two, the sheriff's office said. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

The sheriff's office said speed and alcohol were suspected factors in the crash.

Snow was driving eastbound on Hawthorne Road and failed to stop at a stop sign at Highway I, where Hawthorne Road ends, the sheriff's office said.

Sept. 11, 2012 6:47 a.m. | Residents of the Menomonee Falls School District can expect a lower tax bill as the levy - which includes a 0.4 percent decrease - was approved at the annual meeting Monday night.

About 25 residents approved the total levy of $38,282,890 for the 2012-13 school year. Despite a projected 15 percent decrease in state aid for the 2012-13 school year, the mill rate will be decreased $0.05 per $1,000 of property value. The mill rate will be $11.42 per $1,000.

According to Business Manager Jeff Gross, a property owner with a home valued at $200,000 would see a reduction of $9.17. The property owner would pay $2,285.52.

This is the second year in a row the levy was lowered in the Menomonee Falls School District. For the 2011-12 school year, it was lowered by 1.96 percent.

Total expenditures in the district are down 1 percent. The transition to a self-funded insurance plan and reducing things such as energy and transportation costs helped the district come to a balanced budget and lower levy.

The video, taken from Lt. Brian Murphy's and Lenda's vehicles, shows Murphy's arrival, his immediate care of the victims - whose images are blurred - and his contact with gunman Wade Michael Page.

It shows that Murphy was able to fire a round at Page before he was taken down. The video then cuts to Lenda's vehicle as it enters the temple parking lot, stops and backs up.

"I've got a man in the parking lot with a gun," Lenda says in the video. Lenda's windshield is then hit by a bullet. Lenda returns six shots, and Page falls to the ground. One extra shot, believed by the FBI to be the fatal self-inflicted shot, is heard.

Santell confirmed that the FBI's investigation showed Lenda's headrest was hit by the bullet that struck his vehicle.

Sept. 10, 2012 4:10 p.m. | Menomonee Falls - A 54-year-old man was arrested for resisting after he tried, unsuccessfully, to walk away from officers three times after he was pulled over for drunken driving during the early morning hours of Sept. 1.

According to Menomonee Falls police:

An officer observed a white, cargo-style van that was driving westbound on Polk Drive suddenly stop and turn its headlights off in the eastbound lane near Jefferson Avenue shortly after 2:30 a.m. When the officer approached the vehicle and made contact with the driver, a 54-year-old Menomonee Falls man, he noticed the man had bloodshot, glassy eyes and smelled of alcohol.

During questioning the driver admitted to having one to three alcoholic drinks, then got out of his car and started to walk away from the traffic stop, ignoring the officer's multiple commands to stop.

When the suspect returned to the vehicle he refused field sobriety tests and tried to walk away again. After attempting to walk away a third time, the man was arrested by police for fourth offense drunken driving and resisting.

Karas picked all five games correctly and came the closest to predicting the final score of the Marquette vs. West Alls Hale game. He wins a pair of tickets to Marcus Theatres and has a shot at being one of the three winners at the end of the regular season. Each of those winners will receive a gift card to Bartolotta restaurants worth $100, $50 or $25.

Next week's featured contests, which are now open for picking, are: Germantown vs. Cedarburg; Greendale vs. Pewaukee, New Berlin West vs. New Berlin Eisenhower, Mukwonago vs. Catholic Memorial and Marquette vs. Brookfield Central.

Need some help handicapping the games? Visit the Push for the Playoffs for a capsule look at area teams, statistics and more.

Sept. 07, 2012 11:16 p.m. | Brookfield East defensive end Alec James came up big down the stretch, but it was a 5-foot, 11 inch, 160 pound quarterback who stole the show Friday night.

The Spartans earned a hard-fought 21-7 victory over a tough Menomonee Falls squad at East, in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.

Junior quarterback Zach Damico took the Spartans 62 yards with less than two minutes left to play, scoring the final touchdown himself on a beautiful 18-yard run. He raced down the left sideline and then cut back to the middle of the field and fought his way into the end zone for the clinching score.

Damico also tossed two touchdown passes — a 39-yarder to Griffin Lynch for the game’s first score with 2 minutes, 47 seconds left in the first quarter and a 26-yarder to Brian Smith with 10 seconds left in the half.

He was also the Spartans leading rusher with 108 yards and he completed 9-of-13 for 154 yards.

East coach Tom Swittel is excited about his quarterback, who started on the JV last year.

“He’s given us an element that we didn’t have last year,” he said. “He’s got the ability to run the option and to run the football. I was most impressed by him at the end of the half when we scored with 10 seconds after getting the ball with 48 seconds to go.

“That was our 1 minute drill, something we practice every single day. It worked tonight. I was impressed with what he did. He calls all the plays on that. That doesn’t come in from the sidelines.

"Then that final drive that he scored on; again he was a lead ball carrier on that drive.”

Falls had a chance to go on the board early, thanks to a 47-yard punt return by Cole Hernickl, giving the Indians the ball on the 14-yard line. But three plays later, quarterback Adam Vechart fumbled and East’s Cal Durni recovered.

“We squandered opportunities early on,” Falls coach John Baker said. “I’m very proud of our players; they played extremely hard tonight. We had some turnovers, some things that happened, but it’s all a team effort and I’m extremely proud of our players.”

The Indians finally got on the scoreboard with 11:50 left in the first half when running back Christian Almonte had a brilliant run down the left sideline, making not one, but two big cuts through the Spartans secondary for a 20-yard score.

“Offensively you saw (Almonte) he’s a quick back, a really tough kid,” Baker said. “Our offensive line, we challenged them to be tough and they came out and they did.”

Cornerback Brian Smith, the star of the Spartans basketball team, intercepted Vechart twice in the second quarter stopping Indians drives. He also caught six passes for 98 yards.

Then there was James, the state’s top defensive linemen who will be attending the University of Wisconsin next year. James sacked Vechart in the second quarter to stop a drive and then came up with two key sacks in the fourth quarter and one hurry.

“Our defense has been solid for most of the year,” Swittel said. “The Falls had us on the run. But when they got near our goal line we toughened up. The name of the game is to keep them out of the end zone. And we’ve been able to do that.”

Falls defense was also outstanding led by senior linebacker Brian Schmit, who was able to time the blitz several times to tackle East running backs in the end zone.

“Smitty is really a special kid,” Baker said. “He’s quick; he has great timing on the blitz. I’m extremely proud of him. He’s really a solid linebacker and he’s really having a nice season.”

“We knew Falls was going to be a very tough team; maybe the best team we’ve played this year,” Damico said. “We knew they’d be gunning for us like we did for them last year (East won, 21-0). We had to execute better than we did last year and we did that.”

Swittel agreed with his quarterback.

“We did not underestimate Falls whatsoever,” he said. “They are a good football team. They have a ton of talent and they’re well-coached. And the game bore that out.”

Register now for the chance to each week win a pair of tickets to Marcus Theatres. Three winners at the end of the regular season will receive a gift card to Bartolotta restaurants worth $100, $50 or $25.

Colleen Mrotek, the reigning Miss. St. Francis, joined the fray this season as a celebrity guest picker and rolled to a 5-0 record in the first round. She was joined in the ranks of the undefeated by NOW sportswriter John Rech and contestant Jeff Slusar, who won movie tickets by predicting the exact final score of the Brookfield Central vs. West Allis Hale tiebreaker match up.

Sept. 07, 2012 11:32 a.m. | Rockfield Elementary School in Germantown was named a 2012 Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.

There were eight elementary schools in Wisconsin that received the award. There are approximately 15,000 public school districts nationwide and 269 individual schools received Blue Ribbon awards this year.

"We are thrilled to have won the Blue Ribbon Schools award. Blue Ribbon Schools exemplify the principal and teacher leadership we continue to cultivate in our schools focused on students," said Germantown Superintendent Susan Borden,

There are now three Blue Ribbon principals out of the four elementary schools in the Germantown School District. County Line Elementary won the award in 2009. Amy Belle Elementary Principal Maria Kucharski recently started with the Germantown School District after working at Magee Elementary in Kettle Moraine, a school that also received a 2012 award.

"Congratulations. Only a few schools in the nation receive Blue Ribbon honors each year," said State Superintendent Tony Evers. "This award recognizes that staff members at these schools work with their communities to help all students achieve at high levels so they are prepared to graduate from high school ready for college and career."

Sept. 05, 2012 3:30 p.m. | Want to know which high school football teams are headed toward a WIAA postseason bid and who might be among the also-rans?

Visit Push for the Playoffs each week at www.mycommunitynow.com/push as Lake Country Publications/NOW Newspapers sports director JR Radcliffe sizes up the playoff chances of all area teams. You will also find standings, area statistical leaders, a player of the week and more.

Sept. 01, 2012 7:10 p.m. | Congratulations are in order for Jeff Slusar, who correctly picked the winners of all five games in this week's MyCommunityNOW Pigskin Picks contest and predicted the exact final score of the Brookfield Central vs. West Allis Hale tiebreaker match up.

Slusar wins a pair of tickets to Marcus Theatres and is among the leaders as we head into the second week of the contest. Three winners at the end of the season will receive a gift card to Bartolotta restaurants worth $100, $50 or $25.

Colleen Mrotek, the reigning Miss St. Francis, proved her football prowess by picking all five games correctly. She is joined atop the VIP rankings by NOW sportswriter John Rech, who also enjoyed an undefeated week.